By Jean S. HornerThe other day while walking down a corridor
in a public building, I saw what appeared to be someone walking toward
me. On coming closer, I found it was my own reflection in a huge mirror.
For a moment it frightened me. Somehow a full-length reflection of
one’s self is a startling thing. ...

Daily Boost

November 20, 2012 - Having It All

By Greg Ebie

French author Guy de Maupassant was one of the greatest writers of short stories and novels the world has ever known. Within 10 years he rose from relative obscurity to fame. Maupassant enjoyed great wealth — a yacht in the Mediterranean, a large house on the Norman coast, a luxurious apartment in Paris. It was said of him that "critics praised him, men admired him and women worshipped him." He had all the trappings of what the world would call the "fulfilled dream life."

Yet at the height of his fame he went insane, brought on by what those close to him called a "promiscuous lifestyle." On January 2, 1892, he tried to cut his own throat with a letter-opener. He lived out the last year and a half of his life in a private asylum on the French Riviera. He died at the age of 42.

Before he went insane he prophetically wrote what was to be his epitaph: "I have coveted everything and taken pleasure in nothing."

"God won't starve an honest soul, but he frustrates the appetites of the wicked" (Proverbs 10:3, The Message).

I don't know about you, but I'm glad God won't let me starve to death. The righteous find satisfaction and contentment only God can give. Instead of chasing after rainbows, believers discover God will fully satisfy the hearts of His children. God will meet our every need.

Now don't misunderstand: the Lord does not promise us everything we want. Many of our desires have a selfish root. But God will provide for the righteous; genuine contentment and peace fills the honest heart with the knowledge Father God cares and provides what is needed for genuine life fulfillment.

Unfortunately the wicked are not so blessed. God will frustrate their appetite. The unrighteous get what they crave, only to want more; they are never satisfied, always looking to fill their "empty stomachs."

I pray that I always hunger and thirst for God's righteousness; this too is a yearning He has promised to always satisfy. (See Matthew 5:6.)

— D. Greg Ebie is senior pastor of Life Church (Assemblies of God) in Garrettsville, Ohio, and an author of Daily Bread devotionals.